heat

kevin marks

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ive been looking at heating and hot water systems and it seems as though the ebarspracher system is a good bet anyone know the pros and cons
 
Dual Top Concept

Take a look at the link below;
Webasto Caravan :: Home

Have removed Truma from the Swift, now have RHA102 Dual Top. No regrets as use the van all year round, so van hardly using Gas/12V plus the fact it can be used whilst driving. Sold the old Truma on that well known Internet Auction site, so recovered some of the costs in swapping it. They do have a great range of Heating only options too, but have always fitted Webasto, in the last self-build and now the Swift.

Rgs

Nick

P.S Article in July issue of MMM mag (available on Webasto's main website), welcome for demo if you are in Somerset area at any time
 
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My van is fitted with an Eberspacher D2 heater which heats the vehicle via blown air and deisel from the main fuel tank. It is efficient and doesn't seem to use a lot of fuel.
Fairly quiet inside the van but quite noisy outside.
The truma water heater works well on gas or mains hook up.
 
kenjones said:
My van is fitted with an Eberspacher D2 heater which heats the vehicle via blown air and deisel from the main fuel tank. It is efficient and doesn't seem to use a lot of fuel.
Fairly quiet inside the van but quite noisy outside.
The truma water heater works well on gas or mains hook up.
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The reason for changing to Webasto was the amount of Gas I was using in the Winter (averaging 13kg every 7-10 days between end of Nov and Feb). Also picked on Dual Top, as noise levels are extremely low inside and out (unit is a specific RV/motorhome Heater unit), plus liked the Mains feature when van outside house on hook up.
Fuel take off on the Fiat tank stops a 1/4, stopping us from running out of diesel but to be fair the use has not been noticable.
Looked at D2 couple of years ago when we were setting up our heater options but didn't like 12v useage as seems fairly high. Autocruise customer's of ours also had similar comments and were fitting more leisure batteries to compensate.
 
so am i right in saying whilst wild camping its powered by diesel and at campsite its powered by mains electric not diesel
 
kevin marks said:
so am i right in saying whilst wild camping its powered by diesel and at campsite its powered by mains electric not diesel
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That's correct, the source on the dual top can be done with the following combinations;

Diesel Only - No Mains Present
Diesel and 1KW electric (Low Campsite Supply i.e EU countries)
1-2kw Electric.
 
great thanks what about price i suppose fitted would be in the £3000 margin
 
kevin marks said:
great thanks what about price i suppose fitted would be in the £3000 margin
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Price of RHA102 is £2299.00 based in examination of vehicle. The diesel only model is £100.00 cheaper and doesn't have the digital control that the wife loves.
 
ok thanks for the info approx £2500 doesnt sound too bad
 
Our 'van has the Eberspacher blown air heater and hot water heater with digital control fitted from purchase, so I do not know how much it cost to have fitted. Our blown air and water heating can also be powered by 240v, but I do not recommend using 240v if you are being charged by the KWh from experience!!
 
Eberspachers draw diesel through a very thin pipe. The diesel can wax up and block the supply pipe at fairly low temperatures - just when you need it most. My eberspacher waxed up and stopped working although the diesel engine never did, so it wasn't that cold. So I used to run mine on paraffin, (or paraffin diesel mix) from a separate tank. It was heavy on battery power too - it takes a lot more battery power to pump and to light diesel than it does gas! .But it was compact and powerful when it was working. The noise probably annoyed my neighbors more than me because I got used to it.
Eberspachers take up the minimum amount of space and are very popular with lorry drivers, not wanting the hassle of separate gas cylinders, driving long hours every day so battery power isn't a problem, and staying on noisy lorry parks so the noise isn't a problem either.
 
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hmmm ok so the ebarspracher has a lot of cons so what about the webasto rha102 dualtop im trying to stay away from lpg as i only want this for cooking and fridge really oh and also to power the eg20 if i go down that road afgain its such a minefield and thankfully you boys and girls have the knowledge about whats best
 
Well pleased with mine, low noise and power consumption. Low fuel consumption as recirculates the air in the cabin. Can be external fit, meaning it is space saving on some installations.
Only complaint I have is that the system will not fire up with voltage below 11.7, but is that really a fault?
Feedback from a customer going to Norway and Finland says that as the fuel take off and pipe are not effected on his, just feel that this issue will be down to the installer routing the pipe to give it the best weather protection (bearing in mind that he was at Finland in the Winter @ -30).

On demo today since starting up at 6:30am this morning, Battery Monitor has read a use of 8AH @ internal temp of 25deg C. This is by far warmer than what I would normally run it at (18 deg C). It is also worth pointing out that today happens to be fairly cold outside.
I did spend quite a considerable time researching the best solution to the Gas use problem and feel I have made the right choice as not changing the van for a fair while so feel the money invested was well worth it.
 
Hi, We had the eberspacher in the old Murvi for 10 years & have had the Webasto dual top in the new Murvi for nearly 2 years. In my opinion the Webasto is a far superior piece of kit. I am NOT saying that the Eberspacher is bad, it is not, but the Webasto is simply better all round.

Dezi
 
ok thanks for the info approx £2500 doesnt sound too bad
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Jeeze! Are we really talking Two Thousand, five hundred quid here or is the decimal point missing? (£25.00) :eek:
 
Hi
I'm in the same boat, thinking of getting a diesel night heater but dont know which way to go, Eberspacher or Webasto Thermo Top C which I think I'm right in saying heat the vehicle water rather than blown air.

Again any advice would be very welcome.

tranivanman
 
If you stay away from 230v sources don't go for the eberspacher coz it guzzles amps - 8 on startup then at least 2 while blowing. Apart from this it is a good system and is much cheaper than gas, even with refillables. Our Autocruise came with Eber fitted but if I was buying new I'd get a heater with a radiant option (are they still available??)to save the batteries.
Andy
 
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